STAT3 and neoplasm: To further investigate the photosensitizing mechanism of GTW, we used Western blotting to examine the key proteins involved in NF-κB/IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway in tumor tissues, including IL-6, NF-κB (p65), phospho-NF-κB (p-p65), STAT3, phospho-STAT3 (p-STAT3) (Figure 1E).